


we're the best friends (what can i say)

by lxvenxtes



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Boarding School, Friendship, M/M, Teenage Shenanigans, implied Huang Ren Jun/Na Jaemin, this fic is about boys being friends and also DUMB
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-19
Updated: 2019-12-19
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:54:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21773275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lxvenxtes/pseuds/lxvenxtes
Summary: Around a month at the school, and being friends with the 2000 club, he realized all of his new friends were a bit insane. It wasn’t horror movie insanity, more like sitcom insanity. The kind of insanity that made life wackier and more fun, sure, but still insane.-Yangyang meets the 00 line and becomes their newest best friend. Chaos ensues.
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Liu Yang Yang
Comments: 5
Kudos: 144
Collections: ’00 FIC FEST: ROUND ONE





	we're the best friends (what can i say)

**Author's Note:**

> for prompt #0012: yangyang never would have thought that fitting in would be so easy, especially when you’re the new kid your junior year and you’re thousands of kilometers from home

Yangyang hadn’t been upset about the move. He was fully supportive of his mother and her new job. It paid more, got her more recognition, and most importantly, made her much happier. So, he wasn't upset about the move.

But Korea was lonely. It was smaller than both Germany and China, which should have made it feel easier to live in, homier maybe. Instead Yangyang felt insignificant, having only his parents to spend time with. There was no one around his age in the neighborhood they had moved to and his parents were always busy with work. He spent most of his time on his phone, instead of actually going out and doing something exciting in a new country, because he had no one to do anything with. It was his philosophy that there was no point in doing anything if you were doing it alone. There would be no one to share the memories with.

But hopefully that would change for the better today.

Yangyang stared up at the building he'd be living in for the next five months. It was a massive stone building, looming over him and completely encasing him in shadows. Besides the gate and the sidewalks to get around, they were completely surrounded by trees. His mother hummed thoughtfully as she came to stand beside him, then his father stood on his other side. The three of them stood in silence, looking up at the building in a kind of unspoken awe. A sudden breeze pulls them from their stupor, sending a chill up Yangyang’s spine and his father leads them up the very long walkway to the entrance.

The room for orientation was full to the brim with boys of the ages between 14 and 18, though it leaned towards the younger side. Yangyang felt an anxiousness brewing in his gut, being one of the older boys. Many of the boys around his age had already seemed paired up, or talking with boys younger than him. The sweeping tidal wave of the thought that he wouldn’t make any friends just barely made his knees buckle.

But then something caught his attention. A laugh, from the should-be deserted hallway. It was loud and bright, exuberant. It made a spark of something glow in Yangyang’s chest, ushering the feelings of almost despair away. Whoever had laughed was then shushed by at least three other people. Yangyang looked over and saw four boys, very badly hidden, stacked on top of each other to peek into the room. It was like something out of a cartoon.

It was as if they were stacked by how outlandish their hair colors were. A sliding scale of monochrome to vibrance. The boy on top of the stack had ink black hair and wide puppy dog eyes. The boy below him had hair a sandy brown color and what was probably the biggest smile Yangyang had ever seen. He looked ecstatic about the room full of loud teenage boys. The boy below him certainly did not share the sentiment. The only thing Yangyang could think of to describe him was a cat, or maybe even a fox. A fox with burgundy, almost purple, hair. His mouth was twisted into something expressionless but judgmental all at once, and Yangyang felt like he was being looked through, even though he wasn’t being looked at all.

The last boy was the one who caught Yangyang’s attention the most. How could he not, with his fire engine red hair? He was looking around the room, his eyes shining with curiosity. His mouth was opened in a small, amazed “o”. He was kind of breathtaking, his golden skin glittering even in the dim yellow light from the hallway, and the crappy fluorescent lighting of the room all of the boys had been shoved into.

He seemed to feel Yangyang’s gaze because he looked over, definitely making eye contact, eyes lit up in excitement, and waved. It was a short wiggle of his fingers. A grin followed shortly after and the air was literally knocked out of Yangyang’s lungs. His parents looked at him, alarmed at his sudden choke, and after he had reassured them he was fine, a glance back at the door told him the boys were gone.

-

After the very lengthy, very boring orientation, Yangyang and his parents were taken to his room. It was on the second floor, up a winding staircase that knocked the wind out of Yangyang’s father. Everything smelled clean, almost like a hospital and the hallway was packed with boys and their parents. It was very noisy, full of goodbyes and mothers asking if children packed this or that.

Their guide, a senior boy with a bright smile and round eyes, who introduced himself as Mark, stopped at the end of the hall. The door said “202” in white large numbers and it stared back at Yangyang. It elicited a spark of hope, maybe even joy, in his chest.

Before he could even think about putting his new key into the doorknob, the door flew open. Yangyang jumped back, almost stumbling into his father and Mark. He silently apologized to them with a sheepish smile, then turned to see what, or who, had opened the door.

It was the purple haired fox. He sent Yangyang a small smile that turned into a grin when he looked over his shoulder, looking at Mark.

“Hi Mark,” he said, waving. Mark smiled back and Yangyang felt out of place. They must’ve already been friends. An odd sense of disappointment settled in the pit of Yangyang’s stomach.

“Hey. Renjun, this is your new roommate, Liu Yangyang,” Mark introduced, making Fox Boy look back at him. Renjun. It was nice to put a name to the face.

Mark excused himself, saying he had to help out more new students. Renjun enthusiastically, almost mockingly, said his goodbyes before stepping back to let Yangyang and his parents into the room.

The room was overrun with brown tones, reminding Yangyang of every book and movie he’d ever seen about boarding schools. The walls were beige and all the furniture was made of dark brown wood. It was kind of boring. Yangyang didn’t know exactly what he was expecting, but it wasn’t this.

Glancing away from his furniture, and his father placing his giant trunk on his bed, he turned to Renjun’s side of the room. The other boy was standing on his bed, taping what looked like newspaper clippings to the wall. 

Before he could ask what they were, Yangyang’s mother was asking if he wanted help unpacking.

“Yes please,” he replies, and she nods smiling. They start on putting his clothes away, in a comfortable silence. The only sounds filling the room are the opening and closing of the dresser drawers, and Renjun pulling off pieces of tape.

“Renjun, was it?” Yangyang’s father asked. Renjun jumped at the sudden break of the silence before he turned to face them. He nodded. “Did you need any help unpacking?”

Renjun smiled, looking a bit shy as he shook his head. Yangyang liked his smile. It made his face brighten, and he looked almost childlike.

“Thank you, but I’m alright,” he said and Yangyang’s father nodded and smiled in return.

-

A half an hour later, everything was unpacked and Yangyang was watching Renjun stick more things onto his wall. His parents had left ten minutes ago, and Yangyang was uncomfortable because he had nothing else to do. He felt like he should’ve been doing something, anything.

“Um, what are you hanging up?” he asked. Renjun paused to grab more tape, and his face was suddenly very serious.

“How do you feel about aliens?"

Yangyang raised his eyebrows. The question had not been what he was expecting.

“Uh, I don’t really know. I’ve never thought about it,” he admitted with a frown. He felt like he was throwing his only good hope for a conversation down the drain.

But instead of waving him off like Yangyang expected, Renjun’s eyes lit up in poorly masked enthusiasm. He opened his mouth, taking in a breath like Yangyang’s father when he was about to go on a rant. But seconds before he could start talking the door flew open. It opened so hard and so fast that it hit the wall and Yangyang winced. Any harder and it definitely would’ve made a hole in the door.

He looked over and saw two of the other boys from earlier. Puppy Dog Eyes and The Smiler.

“Jesus, Jaemin, could you have opened that any harder?” Renjun scolded as he sat back on his heels. Puppy Dog Eyes and Smiler walked in further, closing the door behind them. “You scared my new roommate.” He gestured over to Yangyang, who sent them a sheepish smile and a wave. They both smiled back before turning back to Renjun. He assumed Smiler was Jaemin because he had entered first, with Puppy Dog Eyes trailing behind him and closing the door.

“Like you haven’t scared him already with your murder board,” Smiler responded, which confirmed Yangyang’s thoughts. His voice was deep and kind of sounded like it didn’t belong to him. Like he was lip syncing someone else. He turned to Yangyang with that big wide smile as Renjun protested that he didn’t have a murder board, it was evidence of aliens. “Hi, New Roommate! I’m Na Jaemin.”

Yangyang blinked when he realized he was being spoken to, and his cheeks flushed when he cleared his throat. “Hi. I’m Liu Yangyang,” he said and somehow Jaemin smiled even wider. Then he looked at Puppy Dog Eyes and smacked him on the shoulder. A very cute noise of confusion flew from his lips before he realized what was going on.

“Oh! Sorry, I’m Lee Jeno.” He smiled and Yangyang was taken aback by how pretty he was. He’d never seen such a pretty trio of boys before.

“What did you so rudely barge into our room for?” Renjun asked, shoving away Jaemin’s arm as he tried to hug him. It pleased Yangyang probably more than it should have that he said “our”. It was nice to be included, even if it was just simply a fact.

“It’s lunch time! And Hyuck apparently wants to show us something. He said he needed all of us there,” Jeno explained. Renjun huffed and nodded, but Yangyang could tell he wasn’t truly annoyed because there was a smile on his lips.

“Do you wanna come eat lunch with us?” Jaemin asked and Yangyang couldn’t stop himself from smiling. He nodded and then they were on their way.

-

The first thing Yangyang noticed was that the cafeteria was huge. Absolutely massive. It had the same brown color scheme as the rest of the building, and there were at least 20 circle tables filling it. It reminded Yangyang of a bee hive. Or a maze.

On top of the vast amount of tables, there were three different sections to get food from, and Yangyang felt slightly overwhelmed. He decided to just follow after the other boys and hope for the best.

After grabbing their food, Jaemin guided them to a table, where the last boy from the doorway with the red hair and the golden skin was sitting. Mark Lee and two younger looking boys sat with him, looking entranced by whatever story he was telling.

“Did you start without us?” Jaemin whined and Golden Boy mocked his pout as he nodded.

“Everyone, before we let Hyuck take control like he always does,” Golden Boy threw a strawberry at Renjun with a real whine this time, “This is my new roommate, Yangyang. Yangyang that’s Donghyuck, Chenle and Jisung. You already know Mark, right?”

Yangyang nodded, as everyone turned to look at him. He could feel his hands begin to sweat as he made eye contact with Donghyuck. His stare was met with a smile which was oddly comforting, despite the fact that he was a stranger.

“Where are you from?” Chenle asked, smiling so brightly that even his eyes seemed to glow.

“Oh, uh, I’m from originally from China, but I lived in Germany since I was eleven. I only moved here around six months ago,” he responded. His mind was screaming at him that he was oversharing, but no one around him seemed to care. In fact, they all looked genuinely interested. Donghyuck even leaned forward, looking the most enthralled.

“Why’d you move here?” Jeno asked at the same time Donghyuck requested that he say something in German.

“My mom got a new job,” he explained and Jeno nodded, looking pleased even though he didn’t know Yangyang’s mother. It was sweet. Yangyang turned back to Donghyuck, who’d been watching him intently. “What did you want me to say?”

Donghyuck sounded really excited as he asked, “How do you say hi?”. Yangyang bit his lip to stop the grin from taking over his face.

“Oh that’s simple. You could just say “Hi”or “Hallo”.” Donghyuck looked almost disappointed with the response, which made Yangyang laugh before he could stop himself. Instead of looking offended like Yangyang expected, Donghyuck sent him an almost shy smile. It was cute.

“Yangyang,” Jisung said, like he was testing how it sounded coming out of his mouth. Yangyang nodded as he looked over to signal that he heard him. “When’s your birthday?”

When the words left his mouth, everyone around the table shot each other excited looks. Yangyang didn’t understand the enthusiasm around his birthday, and felt a pang of disappointment at being left out of an inside joke, or something of that nature.

Swallowing it down, he responded, “October 10th”. Renjun breathlessly asked what year as Donghyuck said, “Libra. Interesting.” Yangyang met his eyes across the table and Donghyuck smiled again. Yangyang then remembered he had been asked a question. He blinked.

“Oh, um, 2000.”

The table exploded into noise and Yangyang jumped. Renjun, Jeno, Jaemin and Donghyuck all cheered. Jaemin and Jeno shared a high five. Chenle and Jisung groaned in sync and Mark bursted into laughter, throwing his head back and clapping. What was going on?

“Am I missing something?” Yangyang asked, raising an eyebrow. The noise quieted to a hush and Renjun cleared his throat, most likely to explain. Just as he opened his mouth, Jaemin began to speak. Renjun glared at the side of his head.

“It’s like a thing,” he started which made Renjun groan. Jaemin huffed and flicked his hand. “As I was saying, it’s like an inside joke. And sort of like a club?”

“You’re so bad at this,” Mark said sympathetically. Jaemin threw a napkin at him, missing his head, and he laughed again.

“When Jaemin and I were freshmen and we became friends, we realized that we were both born in 2000. Then we met Mark and Hyuck, and Hyuck was born in 2000. Then we all met Jeno and Jeno was born in 2000. So, we just keep finding more people. We’re like a 2000 club,” Renjun explained, much more eloquently. Yangyang nodded, soaking it all in.

“Am I invited to your club then?” he asked and got four matching grins in response. It was like being blinded by beauty.

“Of course! Welcome to the club!” Donghyuck exclaimed. Yangyang had to match his enthusiasm with a grin.

Little by little, over the rest of lunch and the end of the day, Yangyang could feel his anxiety dissipate. He no longer felt the worry that he’d have no friends swallowing his insides. The boys were surprisingly comfortable to be around, despite the fact that he was meeting them for the first time. He could see himself really having fun with them.

-

Around a month at the school, and being friends with the 2000 club, he realized all of his new friends were a bit insane. It wasn’t horror movie insanity, more like sitcom insanity. The kind of insanity that made life wackier and more fun, sure, but still insane.

He first came to the realization about a week after school started. It was a Friday night and he was finishing up his homework as Renjun watched videos on his computer. Yangyang was enjoying the calmness of the night. Their window was open allowing the pleasant September breeze to flow into the room. Renjun’s multitude of pictures were rustling every few seconds and Yangyang really liked the noise.

Out of nowhere, interrupting the peace and quiet, the door burst open crashing into the wall, just like it had on the first day. They were going to cause a hole if they kept doing that.

Jaemin was standing there, grinning and out of breath. Renjun looked unimpressed.

“Stop opening our door like that or I’ll make you pay for the damages you’re gonna create,” he said and Jaemin whined, walking over and laying on top of him.

“Renjunniiiiiieeee,” he sang, pressing his cheek to Renjun’s. Renjun was obviously less than pleased if his scowl was anything to go off of. “Why haven’t you and Yangyang come to movie night?”

Yangyang couldn’t stop the confused noise coming from his lips. He didn’t ever hear about a movie night. Jaemin gasped and sat up so he was looking down at Renjun.

“Renjun! Did you not tell him?” Jaemin whined and Renjun shrugged, not meeting his eyes as he looked back at his computer screen. Jaemin gasped again and closed his computer screen.

Renjun cried “Hey!” as Jaemin took the computer out of his lap. Jaemin then pulled Renjun up by the hand and threw him over his shoulder like it was nothing. To Yangyang’s surprise Renjun didn’t protest. Instead he just sighed, in that long-suffering sort of way he did whenever Jaemin manhandled him.

Jaemin looked at Yangyang with his eyebrow raised expectantly. Yangyang closed his notebook, slipped his shoes on, grabbed his phone and then he was following Jaemin down the hall. Renjun started texting someone as Jaemin narrowly avoided walking him into an open door.

-

They ended up in the basement, which Yangyang was ninety-seven percent sure was supposed to be restricted.

Yangyang looked around as Jaemin set Renjun down and they started bickering again. There was a projector set up, and a loading screen was blown up on the wall across from it. Yangyang didn’t recognize the movie.

Along the walls there was fairy lights, twinkling in the blue darkness, giving Yangyang more than enough light to see the rest of the room. There was a beat up, bright orange sofa which Donghyuck was sprawled out on, and two armchairs. Jeno was nowhere to be found.

Donghyuck sat up at the noise of their arrival and when his eyes landed on Yangyang, he grinned. Yangyang was once again amazed by the way he seemed to glow, even in the dim light of the basement. He waved Yangyang over, and moved so his feet were folded under himself. Yangyang couldn’t stop himself from smiling as well as he walked over to sit beside him.

“Hey Yangyang,” Donghyuck said as he sat down. Without warning he plopped his feet into Yangyang’s lap. He had on mismatched socks, one bright purple and the other black and white stripes. It was unnecessarily endearing.

“Hi Donghyuck. Uh, what movie are we watching?” he said turning back to the projected screen. He always felt like he couldn’t look Donghyuck directly in the eye. Donghyuck gasped like Yangyang had said the most scandalous thing he’d ever heard.

He cried “You don’t know what Ponyo is?” and Jaemin gasped from across the room. Yangyang could feel his face heat up.

"No, obviously. What's it about?" Donghyuck always seemed to be moving when he got excited, and now was no exception. He started wiggling his feet in Yangyang's lap and shimming his shoulders. He looked like a very cute worn.

Before he could explain, Jeno crashed into the room with his arms full of snacks. He dropped half of them onto the floor as he ran over to sit in one of the armchairs. He waved enthusiastically at Yangyang as he dropped a bag of chips from his mouth. Over his shoulder, Yangyang saw Renjun and Jaemin picking up the discarded snacks from the floor.

“Where’d you get all those?” Donghyuck asked, leaning over Yangyang to grab a packet of cookies. Instead of moving back like Yangyang thought he would, he stayed kneeling in his lap, looking at Jeno curiously.

“I stole them from Yukhei’s room. If you see him, you never saw me,” Jeno said and they all nodded. Yangyang didn’t really think it’d be an issue. Yukhei, on the few occasions he’d met him, seemed to be really laid back and kind.

“Yangyang, how do you say movie in German?” Donghyuck asked, moving out of his lap. Rather than moving back to his end of the couch, he put his head back in Yangyang’s lap, looking up at him inquisitively. Yangyang could feel his hands start to sweat.

“Uh, it’s just, uh, Film, actually,” he managed to stammer out. Jaemin snickered from the other armchair, where Renjun was sitting squished next to him. Donghyuck groaned in annoyance.

“German is supposed to be, like, totally crazy. I don’t see it,” he whined. His pout was so cute that it was almost cruel to Yangyang’s already over excited heart.

Despite his better judgement, Yangyang found himself saying, “Schade.” Donghyuck’s mouth fell open and his eyes started to glitter with excitement. For the briefest second Yangyang was filled with the fear that Donghyuck had understood him.

Then the other boy was asking, “What does that mean?”. It reminded Yangyang of the little kids he’d meet in Germany who wanted to know what everything in Chinese meant. Yangyang had the sudden urge to ruffle his hair.

“What a shame,” he translated, dryly, and Donghyuck squinted at him.

“Are you making fun of me?” he asked and Yangyang shrugged.

“Maybe a little,” he teased and Jaemin went “Ooooh”, making Renjun smack his shoulder.

“Can we watch Ponyo now?” Jeno asked, mouth full of chips. Donghyuck nodded and grabbed the remote to press play.

-

They got about halfway through the movie, with the guys asking Yangyang every few minutes what certain words were in German, like fish or water or child. He translated every time, still amused by their excited curiosity. But just as Yangyang was getting truly invested, there was a sudden, extremely loud banging on the door.

He jumped in sync with everyone else and stared at the door with the immediate fear that they were all going to get in trouble for being in the restricted basement. Donghyuck moved so his head was on Yangyang’s shoulder.

“Relax,” he said. His hair was brushing against Yangyang’s neck in a way that tickled, but Yangyang didn’t want to move and lose the comforting contact. “It’s just Yukhei.”

Jeno sucked in a breath. “How do you know that?”

"He's the only person who knocks like that," Donghyuck explained, shrugging.

Seconds later, Yukhei was yelling, "Hey! Let me in, I need to talk to Jeno."

Jaemin got up to open the door and Jeno was shaking his head almost violently to stop him. Of course, Jaemin ignored him and started to open the door. Without warning, Jeno started throwing the trash and snacks in his lap at Yangyang.

"Hey!"

"He won't beat you up, you're new!" Jeno exclaimed as a pack of cookies smacked Yangyang in the face. Yangyang spluttered in response as Donghyuck laughed at them.

Yukhei walked in and froze, staring at the commotion. Yangyang was sure they looked stupid, with him being pelted with food and Donghyuck giggling like a schoolgirl. Jeno let out a noise that could only be described as a squeak and turned to face him with a grin plastered into his face and a bag of chips hidden behind his back.

"Did you steal my snacks?" Yukhei asked, obviously knowing the answer. Jeno bit his lip, not so subtly chucking the bag to the couch without looking. It hit Donghyuck in the shoulder and Renjun let out a surprised sort of laugh.

Jeno blinked, smiling slowly as he said, "Um, maybe?"

Yukhei laughed good-naturedly, like Yangyang expected. "You could've just asked, you know,” Jeno shrugged, looking sheepish. “Now you have to buy me more."

"That's fair. Sorry." Yukhei shrugged it off before walking towards the door again. He glanced back, sent them a wave, and walked away. After the door closed, Jeno let out a breath of relief.

"That was anticlimactic. I wanted Jeno to get punched," Renjun said and Jeno scoffed. With the pile of snacks in his lap, Yangyang got an idea. It was a little petty and childish, but it was also hilarious.

"Yo, Jeno!" he called. When Jeno looked in his direction, he threw a pack of gummies and cheered when it hit him in the eye. Somehow that turned into Jeno crouching on the ground to hide from the rain of snacks they were throwing at him.

"Dog pile on Jeno!" Renjun shouted and then they were all lying on top of one another despite Jeno's desperate pleas. Ponyo was still playing in the background.

Squashed between Donghyuck and Jaemin, and with Renjun's elbow just short of hitting his eye, Yangyang realized maybe he was just as insane as his new friends.

-

Yangyang was lying in his bed, trying to take a nap when the door slammed against the wall.

"Hey Jaemin," he said, not even bothering to sit up. Jaemin walked into his line of sight and even without him saying anything Yangyang could see he was excited.

He was grinning, his teeth on display, practically shining in the afternoon sun, and he was bouncing in place.

"What's up?"

"You wanna come to my room really quick?" he asked, smiling in a way that made it super hard to say no. Nodding, Yangyang sat up, rubbing his hands across his face to wake himself up.

Jaemin must've run out of patience waiting for Yangyang to wake himself up because he grabbed his hand and pulled him out of bed and into the hallway. Yangyang didn't even have time to complain about being yanked around because he seconds later they were in Jaemin's room.

Donghyuck was on Jeno's bed and there was a cat in his lap. Yangyang's heart soared. He turned to Jaemin to confirm that there actually was a cat and it wasn't some kind of mirage. Jaemin's grin was so wide that it looked like it hurt.

"Whose cat is this? What's its name?" he asked, moving to sit beside Donghyuck on the bed. Their hands brushed when he reached down to pet the cat. Yangyang tried not to think too hard about it.

"Her name is Biscuit! And she's mine," Jaemin answered, voice dripping with fondness.

Yangyang looked up from Biscuit with a frown. "But pets aren't allowed?"

"So, maybe I have an illegal cat? Surprise?" Jaemin said, smiling awkwardly. "Please don't tell on me. No one else wanted her because she's older and she's just so cute. I couldn't say no to those eyes."

Yangyang looked at Biscuit and smiled. She was a gorgeous cat. Her fur was an orangey brown color, and she had little white stripes, and one entirely white paw. Her eyes were big, and a clear, light green. They looked like marbles almost. Yangyang could definitely see why Jaemin was so smitten.

Donghyuck kissed the top of her head, and turned to Yangyang with a grin almost as wide as Jaemin's.

"Say cat in German!" he demanded and Yangyang scoffed.

"You're not even going to ask?"

Donghyuck shook his head and Jaemin laughed. Biscuit jumped out of his arms and ran into Yangyang's lap. Yangyang couldn't stop himself from cooing as she burrowed her head into his hoodie. She began to purr as he pet her head and he was full of pride.

"Cat is katze," he finally said, looking up to where Donghyuck was watching him with a little smile on his face. Yangyang looked away as he blushed. Biscuit was falling asleep in his lap.

"How do you say pretty?" There was something different about Donghyuck's tone when he asked. It was almost flirty?

Yangyang quickly stopped that train of thought before it started. Donghyuck was his friend, who only saw him in a completely platonic, friendly way.

He cleared his throat and responded. "Oh, um, schön." Donghyuck repeated it to himself, stumbling a bit on the pronunciation. It shouldn't have been as cute as it was.

He leaned in close to where Biscuit was now passed out, cuddled up with Yangyang's hoodie pocket, and smiled.

"Biscuit, you're very schön," he whispered. "And so is Yangyang."

Yangyang almost jumped out of shock before he quickly remembered Biscuit was asleep. Jaemin looked like he was going to pass out from holding in his laughter and Donghyuck had an innocent smile on his face. Was it some kind of joke?

Before Yangyang could say anything, the door opened and Jaemin ran to stand in front of Yangyang, holding his arms out to block him from view. Subtly was not his specialty.

"Why are you standing like that? We're here to see Biscuit," Jeno said and Jaemin's body sagged in relief. Renjun gently closed the door behind them and then he was cooing at the sleeping cat alongside Jeno.

Yangyang could feel Donghyuck's eyes glued to him.

-

Apparently the gang was going on an adventure today. (Jaemin's words. Renjun told him that they weren't the Scooby Doo characters and to stop being cringey.)

"So, where are we going?" Mark asked at the same time both Jeno and Renjun asked Jaemin if he had locked Biscuit in her cage for the umpteenth time. They were standing outside the dorm building waiting for Donghyuck. He was supposed to have been ready but apparently he forgot something.

"Yes I did. You guys worry too much!" Jaemin exclaimed, rolling his eyes. "And we're going to the fair! You know it’s fair season."

"Ugh, I hate the fair," Mark whined. 

"That's cause you're no fun," Donghyuck said cheerily as he walked over with Yukhei. Yangyang felt briefly weak in the knees. He looked as pretty as usual, but he had his forehead showing which affected Yangyang more than he would like to admit.

"I just don't like everyone staring at us because we don't go to their school and aren't supposed to be there," Mark argued, with Renjun and Jaemin mouthing along. This must've been a common rant then.

"It's fine, Mark! They're not gonna notice us," Yukhei exclaimed, playfully punching him on the shoulder. Something in his book bag rattled noisily as Mark winced. He didn't ever seem to realize he was super strong, even though his biceps were practically the same size as Yangyang's head.

"You think they're not gonna notice us with your six foot tall, model looking ass?" Donghyuck scoffed and Yukhei smiled bashfully. An unexpected rush of jealousy erupted in his gut, which left him irritated with himself.

Everyone with working eyes knew Yukhei was super hot, so he had no right getting upset about Donghyuck acknowledging it. But Yangyang couldn't ignore the little green eyed monster sitting on his shoulder.

-

The second they got to the fair, everyone split up. Mark said it was to avoid suspicion but Jeno said it was because no one wanted to waste all their money playing games like Mark did.

Yangyang ended up with Donghyuck and Yukhei because whatever god there was hated him apparently.

"What do we wanna do first?" Donghyuck asked. He looked like a kid in a candy store. The slight breeze was rustling his hair and the sun was making him glow and Yangyang knew he was just staring at him instead of responding.

"I thought we were gonna do that thing," Yukhei said, winking at him. Donghyuck shot him a warning look.

"That's later. What are we doing now?" he said, his tone sharp. Yukhei shrugged and his bag rattled again.

Yangyang cleared his throat. "Do you wanna go ride the Tilt A Whirl?" he offered. He got matching megawatt smiles in response.

-

Yangyang loved fairs. He loved the slightly chaotic atmosphere, full of shrill screams and laughter. The smells of cotton candy and deep fried food that definitely shouldn't have been deep fried.

It was joy and childhood and everything good in the world in one place.

He smiled to himself as he followed after Donghyuck and Yukhei. The Tilt A Whirl had been a blast, Yukhei shrieking like a child every time he slammed into Donghyuck's side and Yangyang's hands hurting from his grip on the safety bar.

Now they were on the prowl for a cotton candy stand. Yukhei had whined about wanting cotton candy the second they got off the Tilt A Whirl and that was two rides ago. For a senior who was supposed to be on the brink of adulthood, he was kind of a baby. Oddly enough, the whining wasn’t bothering Yangyang. He was having too good of a day.

-

Cotton candy acquired, the trio had met back up with the others at the Ferris Wheel. It was starting to get dark, and they had to be back at the school before curfew, so this would be the last ride of the night.

Jaemin and Renjun had split into a pair, and Yangyang smiled when he saw the five or so toys Jaemin was holding. Mark and Jeno were behind them, both of them talking animatedly over each other about some show they both were watching. Yangyang had only caught something about vampire aliens and decided he didn’t really want to know.

That left Yangyang with Donghyuck and Yukhei. They hadn’t been particularly flirty or anything, but Ferris Wheels were supposed to be romantic so he wasn’t entirely sure what would happen.

He didn’t know why he was so threatened by Yukhei. Donghyuck hadn’t even interacted with him much that day, too busy standing by Yangyang’s side asking him to translate the entire fair into German. Then when Yukhei won a stuffed animal, he gave it to Yangyang because “he looked like a baby sheep”. Donghyuck had thought it was the funniest thing in the world and didn’t seem to even consider being jealous. But Yangyang couldn’t shake the feeling that they were gonna make out in front of him as he sat across from them or something.

Mark suddenly cleared his throat, pulling Yangyang from his thoughts. Donghyuck looked up from his phone with a smile and Mark rolled his eyes.

“Yukhei, why don’t you get on with me and Jeno?” he asked. Yukhei’s brow wrinkled in confusion.

“What? Why?” he asked and Mark very unsubtly cleared his throat and gestured towards Yangyang and Donghyuck who was now standing beside him. Yukhei squinted at them for a second before some kind of realization dawned on his face and he went, “Ohhhh.” Yangyang had never been more confused in his life. 

Without another word, Yukhei followed Mark and Jeno onto the seat. They all waved enthusiastically as they went into the air so Yangyang and Donghyuck could get onto the next pod.

Yangyang was suddenly very nervous. He felt like he had been set up. The pod shook as Donghyuck climbed on and Yangyang followed.

The second they were both sitting, side by side, the ride was set into motion. It began to rotate slowly and some of Yangyang’s nerves began to dissipate as he could see the fair crawl into his line of sight.

The view was gorgeous. The sun was setting, the sky a kaleidoscope of pinks and oranges and purples, and everything looked like it was painted with gold. He could hear Renjun scream in protest as Jaemin shook their pod above them, and Yukhei’s loud laughter. He was warm all over, affection leaking from his heart into his bones.

He felt something pushing against his pinky and looked down to see Donghyuck intertwining their fingers together. Oh. That was something.

He glanced over at Donghyuck, who was watching the people on the ground. His face was expressionless, and if Yangyang wasn’t literally holding his hand, he wouldn't have known anything was out of the ordinary.

“Is this okay?” he asked, still not looking at Yangyang. His voice was soft and quiet, and if Yangyang didn’t know any better he would have said Donghyuck was nervous.

“Yeah, uh, yes. It’s nice,” he responded, just as quiet. Oh God, he was so awkward. Donghyuck seemed to think his response was okay though, because he smiled to himself.

A few minutes of comfortable silence later, the ride was taking them to the ground. They met up with the others at the entrance, and Donghyuck didn’t drop his hand.

He still hadn’t let go when they started to walk back to school. Yangyang couldn’t stop looking down at their intertwined fingers and smiling.

“Yukhei? You ready to do the thing?” Donghyuck as they turned onto the street their school was on.

“Thing?” Jeno said. Before anyone else could ask what was going on, Yukhei was sprinting in the opposite direction of the school with Donghyuck following after him. Which meant Yangyang was also following after him.

Yangyang could hear everyone else shout in surprise as they ran, then he heard their footsteps begin to follow along.

He didn’t know what was going on, or where they were going, until they stopped in an alley. Even then he was still confused.

“What is going on?” he panted. The rest of the guys had managed to catch up with them and started to swear at Yukhei. He ignored their complaints, and Yangyang’s question went unanswered as he unzipped his bag and dumped its contents on the ground. It was full of different cans of spray paint, a neon rainbow sitting at his feet.

“What the hell is going on?” Mark exclaimed and Yukhei shushed him. Donghyuck grinned and picked up a can that matched his hair.

Shaking the can, he replied, “We’re making art. Grab a can.”

-

Twenty minutes, the wall looked like a very creative kindergarten had gotten to it. The spray paint was harder to use than it looked.

Yangyang stepped back to admire his work, and almost jumped out of his skin when Donghyuck hooked his chin on his shoulder to look as well. He was warm against Yangyang's back and he somehow still smelled good despite the chemical odor in the air.

“What’d you write?” he asked, squinting at the wall in the darkness to see Yangyang’s handiwork. Maybe black was a mistake when it was ten p.m. Donghyuck made a triumphant noise as he spotted Yangyang’s art against the wall. Then he burst into laughter.

Yangyang grinned as Donghyuck held onto him to keep himself upright, laughter falling out of his mouth, even though he had his hand over his mouth to quiet himself.

His noise got everyone but Renjun’s focus. He was still trying to make his art decent looking even though everyone else had given up on that almost immediately.

As the guys walked over and realized what Yangyang had put they all had similar fits of laughter, which filled him with pride.

“What? What’d he put?” Renjun asked, standing and brushing the dirt off his jeans.

Through a fit of giggles, Jeno managed to stutter out his response.

“He just put sorry.”

-

After the spray paint was thrown away, they walked back to the school. Donghyuck had been hanging off of Yangyang’s arm for the duration of the walk, which had given him a confidence boost.

He was feeling so confident, that he stopped Donghyuck from walking inside with the others. Donghyuck sent a curious look, and Yangyang’s confidence went out the window.

With a deep exhale, he blurted out, “I’m sorry if this makes you uncomfortable, but I like you a lot. Like, romantically like you. Sorry if that's like, weird or something,”

Donghyuck did not look surprised in the slightest. “Jaemin was right. You’re super oblivious,” he laughed and stepped closer. “I’ve been flirting with you since your first day.”

“You been doing what?” Yangyang felt like the biggest moron in the world.

“Can I kiss you or do you still need a second?” Donghyuck was smiling so wide and Yangyang wanted to kiss him more than he’d ever wanted anything ever.

“Kiss me, please,” he whispered and Donghyuck laughed before leaning in. Yangyang shouldn’t have been surprised that Donghyuck was a good kisser because he was good at everything, but he was. His lips were soft and so were his hands when they cupped Yangyang’s face.

Out of nowhere, Yangyang could hear their friends cheering and whooping. He pulled away, his face red, and saw Jaemin, Jeno and Renjun celebrating through the window.

“They’re so stupid,” Donghyuck mumbled, like he wasn’t hiding his face in Yangyang’s shoulder.

-

Comfort was the only word that could describe how Yangyang was feeling. He was cuddling with Donghyuck and he was stress free. He had finished his homework hours ago and had nothing else to do for the night. He was warm even though Renjun still had the window open even though it was starting to get cold and he had a pretty boy in his arms. Life was good.

He was starting to doze off when he saw Renjun scramble into his bed.

“What are you doing?” he asked, as Donghyuck let out a bunch of whiny noises in his ear.

“I just finished a video about demons and now I need comfort,” was his only explanation and Donghyuck scoffed.

“Go get Jaemin then.”

Renjun flicked him on the back of his neck, annoyed at the completely reasonable suggestion. “He took Biscuit to the vet.” Then he latched onto Donghyuck’s back and didn’t say anything.

Donghyuck was pouting and Yangyang laughed. “It’s not a big deal, Liebling.”

“What’s that one mean?” Yangyang had started to call Donghyuck every German term of endearment he could think of, and the older boy loved it. Everyone else thought it was gross, which was an added bonus.

“Darling,” he answered, voice dripping with sweetness. Renjun gagged and Donghyuck burst into giggles.

He started to lean in and Yangyang closed his eyes, waiting for the kiss. But then Renjun’s hand was coming in between their faces.

“I could die by a demon at any time tonight and I will not let the last thing I see be you two making out,” he cried and Donghyuck let out a frustrated noise.

As they started arguing, Yangyang’s phone rang. It was his mom. He sat up and answered the call as Renjun said Donghyuck was annoying.

He stepped into the hall as their bickering raised in volume.

“Hi Mom,” he said, smiling. He had missed her more than he thought. He didn’t realize how long it had been since they’d last spoken. Almost two months since they’d talked on the phone.

“Yangyang! It’s so nice to hear your voice. I was beginning to think you had died,” she exclaimed and he laughed at her melodrama. His heart clenched as he pictured her in her office on the phone, smiling just like him.

“Nope. Not dead, thankfully. How have you been? Where’s dad?” He distantly heard a scream from Donghyuck and laughed.

“Good, I’m good. Your dad’s washing the dishes. Is school going well?” She sounded curious, hopeful and a little wistful all at once. It hurt Yangyang’s heart a little. He didn’t know she’d been missing him so bad.

“School’s good! I’m doing really well in my classes,” he answered and a happy little hum left her lips. Yangyang loved the noise.

“Great! Good! I knew you’d be doing well. You’re so smart!” Before he could thank her, she was asking him about his social life, and if he had had any issues making friends. He found himself grinning without even thinking about. He thought about Renjun and his aliens, Jeno and his kindness, Jaemin and his eccentricity and Donghyuck and his everything and laughed to himself.

“I actually met these four guys! We’re kind of like a club now. Sorta. I think you’d love them,” he replied, realizing he had been standing in silence without answering her for almost a minute. “I do.”

She made an excited sort of squeak noise, and asked for a story. As Yangyang began to tell her about Jaemin and Biscuit, he heard Donghyuck and Renjun laugh from inside his room, and Jeno shout at Jaemin from down the hall. He loved his friends.

**Author's Note:**

> liebling means darling! and sorry for any and all german translation mistakes if there are any i used a translation website


End file.
